1. 225
   The Help by Kathryn Stockett (paulkid)

   paulkid: Race relations on different continents, told from multiple female perspectives.

2. 173
   The Red Tent by Anita Diamant (derelicious)
3. 140
   Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (jlelliott)

   jlelliott: Each tells the story of Christian missionaries in Africa, one from the perspective of the missionaries, one from the perspective of the local people _targeted for "salvation".

4. 152
   Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (Booksloth)
5. 132
   The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver (kraaivrouw)
6. 121
   Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (momofthreewi)

   momofthreewi: Both are rich in character development and centered around unique families.

7. 90
   Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton (allenmichie)
8. 90
   Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (WSB7)

   WSB7: Both about "colonialisms" abuses in the Congo, among other themes.

9. 102
   Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (allenmichie)
10. 80
    A Passage to India by E. M. Forster (lucyknows)

    lucyknows: You could use the theme of colonialism to pair The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver with Passage to India by E. M. Forster.

11. 113
    The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux (whirled, Iudita)

    Iudita: Similar themes

12. 81
    King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild (baobab)
13. 103
    The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (kiwiflowa)
14. 92
    The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (GreenVelvet)
15. 40
    Jesus Land: A Memoir by Julia Scheeres (literarysarah)
16. 40
    Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart by Tim Butcher (CatherineRM)

    CatherineRM: I love both these books and they nicely juxtapose each other with their Congo total immersion albeit one fictional and one factual. Tim Butcher traces the Congo River from its source through the dense equatorial land that the protagonist of the Kingsolver book occupied with his suffering family. Both books made a lasting impression on me and I have great time for Africa as I lived in Tanzania - close to Congo geographically for most of the time - and it has a big place in my heart. Read both books and be enriched!… (more)

17. 40
    The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (Bcteagirl)

    Bcteagirl: The book has a similar familial tone and is also told from the point of view of young girls growing up in a difficult situation. I had been looking for a book with a similar writing style and was happy to find this one. If you liked The Book of Negroes I recommend The Poisonwood Bible and vice versa.… (more)

18. 20
    Swimming in the Congo by Margaret Meyers (FranklyMyDarling)

    FranklyMyDarling: Another book about a young girl, the daughter of missionaries, growing up in the Congo. (Published prior to Poisonwood.)

19. 20
    State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (sweetbug)

    sweetbug: Similar themes of conflict between two cultures, Westerners living and working in an exotic and dangerous land, and parents / surrogate parents protecting (or not) their children from harm.

20. 10
    The Civilized World by Susi Wyss (ShortStoryLover)

    ShortStoryLover: Although it's much shorter than Poisonwood, The Civilized World also has multiple points of view from female perspectives and the chapters are almost all set in various parts of present-day Africa.

(see all 32 recommendations)